Part 1 of 6 · Process mapping and automation
Overview — Process mapping and automation
What mapping your core workflows and running them through connected tools means, why it comes last, and what changes once it's in place.
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Processes is checkpoint 5. It’s your core workflows mapped, run through the MCPs you’ve connected, and repeatable by any operator.
This is the checkpoint that turns the other four into a business that runs without heroics. If a workflow only works when one specific person does it, you haven’t reached Springspot yet.
What it is
Your core workflows are the jobs the store can’t run without: a product launch, a promo, a restock, the weekly trading report. Mapping one means writing it down so anyone could follow it: what triggers it, what each step produces, which tool and which connection each step uses, and where a person has to make a call.
Once a workflow is mapped and the tools are connected, Claude can run most of it. You make the decisions. It does the work in between.
Why it comes last
You can’t run a workflow through tools that aren’t connected yet. A launch touches the design system, the store and the marketing platform; it can only run end to end once all three are connected.
But writing your workflows down doesn’t have to wait. That’s a 2 on this checkpoint, and you can do it any time. It makes every other track easier, because you’ll know which jobs you’re connecting the tools for.
What changes once it’s in place
- Your main operator can take two weeks off and the store keeps running, with the same results.
- The weekly trading report gets produced every week from your connected tools. You read it and act on it.
- A new operator learns the business from the maps, not by shadowing one person until they’ve seen everything.
- When something goes wrong, there’s a written process to fix, not a habit to argue about.
How it connects to the other checkpoints
Every workflow runs through one or more of the other four:
- Design system (1) and AI ↔ design (2) for anything people see.
- Platform (3) for product, catalog and order work.
- Marketing (4) for campaigns, segments and flows.
A process can only be as connected as the weakest tool it runs through.
Who it’s for
- Solo operators. The person who would be out for two weeks is you. Maps are how the business survives you having a life, or how you hand work to a first hire.
- Small teams. Maps are what make “anyone on the team” true. Without them, each workflow belongs to whoever usually does it.
Next: Requirements, what you need before you start mapping.